The present invention relates to a device for holding blister packs, and to blister packs.
One widespread form of packaging, particularly for medicines, is the blister pack. A blister pack comprises a thin resilient sheet, normally of plastics material, in which hollows or xe2x80x9cblistersxe2x80x9d are formed, all facing away from one side of the sheet. These blisters accommodate products, for example medication products, usually in the form of tablets or capsules. A tearable foil is sealingly attached to the sheet to cover the blisters and retain the products therein. To remove a product, a blister is pressed down, toward the body of the sheet, and this action forces the product through the tearable foil and out of the pack.
It can be problematic to have blister packs stored loose, particularly if the packs contain products which are dangerous for children. Accordingly, a number of devices for holding blister packs in such a way as to prevent easy access to the products have been proposed.
In one example, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,907 (Kalvelage), the blister packs can be housed in a frame formed with openings through which the products may be dispensed from the blisters. The openings are specially shaped to provide partial obstruction to the passage of the products. The ability of the device to prevent access to the products thus depends on the level of obstruction, rather than the device having open and closed conditions respectively allowing either easy access or no access.
Another approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,527 (Lataix). This discloses a blister pack which folds inwardly on itself to form two halves arranged foil-to-foil, the two halves then being held together along their edges remote from the fold line by a locking device. There is however a risk with this type of arrangement that an implement such as a knife may be inserted between the two halves of the folded blister pack at its exposed side edges, allowing access to the foil side of the blister pack and thus potentially to the products.
A further approach is to put the packs in a container, in order to prevent access to the products when the container is closed. A container of this type is disclosed in, for example, U.S. 4,485,915 (Berghahn). In this document, a blister pack is held in a shallow tray, which can be slid in and out of a sleeve. There are no specific means to retain the blister pack on the tray, and if for example the sleeve is held upside-down when the tray is pushed out, the blister pack could simply fall out.
A similar container is disclosed in DE 3840080 (Lobermeier). Here, a blister pack can be slid into a holder. The holder has an array of holes arranged below the blister pack in use, which allow products to be pushed out from the blisters. The holes can be covered by a hinged cover to prevent the products from being dispensed. The blister pack can be easily removed from the holder, for example to allow an empty blister pack to be replaced by a full one. However, since the blister pack can be easily removed, there is a risk that children can gain access to the products simply by removing the blister pack from the holder.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for holding a blister pack, comprising first and second members operable between an open condition in which products may be removed from a blister pack held by the device and a closed condition in which products may not be removed, and retaining means for the blister pack allowing products to be removed from the blister pack when the device is open, the retaining means preventing the blister pack from being removable from the device.
The retaining means ensure that the blister pack will stay in its position in or on the device, even when the device is opened. If the blister pack is not retained in place, then it may fall out during the opening procedure, and in particular if the device is dropped when open, which is clearly inconvenient. Further, if the device is being used to store a number of packs containing tablets which must be taken in accordance with a particular dosing regime, having the packs fall out is particularly inconvenient and indeed possibly dangerous, as the packs may then be put back in the device in the wrong positions, leading to possible over- or under-dosing.
In addition, since the blister pack is not removable from the device, a child who manages to open the device would not be able to remove the blister pack from the device and then gain relatively easy access to the products.
It is preferred that the retaining means are tamper-evident. Any attempt to remove the blister pack from the retaining means will then leave obvious signs, which can alert a patient. Further, if the blister pack is to be inserted into the device by a pharmacist dispensing the medication, making the retaining means tamper-evident means that the device cannot then be reused in an unauthorized manner. This helps to reduce the risk of the device being used with counterfeit products.
The retaining means can be provided in any suitable form. For example, the blister pack could engage in recesses in the device, or could be held in by locking bars or the like. However, it is preferred that the retaining means be in the form of a panel which fits over the base of the blister pack. This does not greatly increase the size of the device, and also ensures that the blister pack is retained across its entire surface, rather than just holding it at the ends.
In order to allow products to be removed, the panel may have rupturable regions, for example, in the same way as rupturable regions are normally provided in blister packs. However, for simplicity, it is preferred that apertures be provided in the panel to allow products to be removed from the blister pack in the open condition without removing the panel.
It is preferred that a blister pack is held by each of the first and the second members, to increase the overall storage capability of the device. Further, this allows products such as medication to be divided into groups, for example tablets to be taken in the morning and tablets to be taken in the evening.
The blisters of the blister pack can be accommodated by the device in any suitable way; for example, they can fit into recesses. However, it is preferred that at least one of said first and second members has apertures therethrough. This can allow access to the blisters to enable the products therein to be removed. For example, if a blister pack is sandwiched between a first or second member provided with apertures and a panel provided with aligned apertures, then the blister may be accessed from one side of the xe2x80x9csandwichxe2x80x9d and the product pushed out from the other side.
If both of the first and second members have apertures therethrough, then it is preferred that the apertures are staggered such that the apertures in the first member and the second member do not overlie each other when the device is closed. If the apertures did overlie each other, and blister packs had only been put into (say) the first member, then it would be possible to remove tablets when the device was closed simply by pushing them out through the corresponding aperture in the second member. Having the apertures staggered avoids this problem, as the tablet would then come up against a solid part of the second member, rather than an aperture in it.
The device may have a peripheral wall to prevent a knife or similar implement being forced between the first and second members when the device is closed. This helps to prevent tampering with the device. Preferably, the wall extends outwardly of the device, transversely to the general plane of a blister pack to be held by the device. Thus, in use with outwardly facing blisters, the wall may extend higher than the blisters, and so prevent damage to said blisters. If the wall is lower than the blisters, then if the device is dropped it will land on the blisters, leading to damage to the blisters und possibly the tablets therein.
Preferably, the device comprises a child-resistant closure. Any suitable child-resistant closure can be used. However, in one preferred embodiment, the child-resistant closure has an actuating member for engagement by a user and provided on said first member, a locking portion operatively connected to said actuating member and adapted to engage with a corresponding locking portion provided on said second member, wherein in the closed condition of the device, the locking portions are on one side of the first and second members and the actuating member is on an opposite side. Positioning the locking portions and the actuating member on opposite sides of the device is intended to deter a child attempting to open the device, by rendering the manipulation required to open the device less obvious.
The actuating member can be formed in a number of ways, but is preferably generally xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped, one limb of the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d being anchored on said first member and the locking portion being provided on the other limb of the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d.
It is preferred that the child-resistant closure has two spaced apart actuating members. It is then necessary to actuate both actuating members at the same time in order to open the device. The spacing between the actuating members can be made such that an adult""s hand is large enough to actuate both actuating members with one hand, but a child""s hand is too small to do this.
A shroud may be provided around the closure to prevent accidental operation. This can also serve to increase the child-resistance of the device, as the closure is then partly hidden, and so less obvious to an inquisitive child.
As an alternative form of child-resistant closure, the first and second members may both carry parts of a child-resistant closure, said parts being engaged by a further member to close said device. Preferably, this further member is a child-resistant screw cap or the like, and the first and second members both carry a portion of a neck to engage with said cap. Suitable child-resistant screw caps are readily available.
Preferably, the device additionally comprises means to retain said first and second members in a closed position when said child-resistant closure is released. This ensures that a separate motion, besides that necessary to disengage the child-resistant closure, is required. Even if a child were to discover the method of opening the child-resistant closure, the device would still not open unless a further step was taken.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a device for holding a blister pack, comprising first and second members relatively movable between an open condition in which products may be removed from a blister pack held by the device and a closed condition in which products may not be removed, and a child-resistant closure, wherein said child-resistant closure has an actuating member for engagement by a user and provided on said first member, and a locking portion operatively connected to said actuating member and adapted to engage with a corresponding locking portion provided on said second member, wherein in the closed position of the device, the locking portions are on one side of the first and second members and the actuating member is on an opposite side.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a device for holding a blister pack, comprising first and second members relatively movable between an open condition in which products may be removed from a blister pack held by the device and a closed condition in which products may not be removed, and a child-resistant closure, wherein said first and second members both carry parts of said child-resistant closure, said parts being engaged by a further member to close said device.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for holding a blister pack containing products, the device being able to adopt an open condition in which products are removable from the blister pack and a closed condition in which removal of the products is prevented, and the device having a plurality of apertures for exposing respective blisters of the blister pack to the outside when the device is in both the closed and the open conditions, whereby when the device is in the open condition the blisters may be pushed from the outside to remove the products.
With such an arrangement a user can easily see the blisters, and thus identify the products which have already been removed, without opening the device. At the same time, whilst the device remains closed, the products are prevented from removal. Once the device is opened, products may be removed. Preferably, the device is held closed by a child-resistant closure. The device may optionally be provided with the other advantageous features described herein.
The device of the present invention is particularly intended for use with relatively small products. Generally, in blister packs, the size and shape of the blister is very similar to that of the product.
However, for small products, the blister may be difficult for a user to deform, particularly because of the difficulty in bending a low height peripheral blister wall by pressure applied to the top, as is required when crushing a blister. In addition, if the dimensions of the blister as viewed in plan are small, then the upper wall of the blister only spans a small distance within the peripheral wall and is thus relatively rigid. As a result, the finger of the person attempting to dispense the tablet, being soft, tends to be compressed itself, rather than crushing the blister. This makes the product difficult to dispense.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a blister pack having at least one blister for accommodating a product therein, said blister extending upwards from a base to an upper surface, the blister being shaped such that a part of said blister projects into the interior of the blister below the upper surface, said projecting part serving to contact the product when the blister is depressed by a force applied to the blister, and thus transmit force to said product.
By providing a projecting part to act on the product, reliable dispensation of the product can be achieved even if the blister overall is larger than the product. By making a blister larger, deformation of the blister is generally easier for the reasons explained above. A larger blister is also advantageous during the operation of filling a blister pack with products.
The inwardly projecting part of the blister may be formed as a depression in the upper surface of the blister. The lowermost part of the depression can then act on the product when the blister is compressed. Advantageously, the depression is positioned centrally of the blister so as to contact the centre of a product to be pushed out.
Preferably, the blister has two main faces which meet in an upper region of said blister, said depression being formed in the upper region. The depression can be formed to be generally more rigid than the main faces, so that it tends to retain its shape while the main faces collapse.
Preferably, the upper region is generally elongate. In use, a major axis of the product is parallel to said elongate upper region.
As an alternative, the inwardly projecting part of said blister is formed as a circumferential ledge extending around said blister. This then acts along the circumference of the product when the blister is compressed. Preferably, further ledges are formed along the height of said blister. These allow the blister to collapse in a concertina fashion, ensuring that the product is pushed out.
The invention also extends to apparatus for making blisters for blister packs as described above. Apparatus for making blister packs is of course known, but would be modified in accordance with the required shape of the blisters.